This list began as part of the group project for the 2011 edition of my graduate course in Plant-Animal Interactions. As part of the class, my students developed a guide to the native tree species of the University of Florida campus, with information on the their dispersers, pollinators, and herbivores. The students also wrote a paper in the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America describing the process and laying out some of the ways smartphones can be used in ecological research, teaching, and extension).
A lanyard: minimizes the risk of your phone getting damaged should it slip out of your hands or fall out of your pocket or pack. It is also a much quicker way to alternate between the phone and work requiring two hands. You can find loads of wrist and neck lanyards online; including glow-in-the-dark ones that seem like they would be good for people working at night).
Many lanyards require cases or phones with a lanyard slot. If your phone or case doesn’t have one (e.g., iPhones), you can you can buy an aftermarket clip that you screw into the baseplate of your phone and just attach the lanyard to that. Right now I am using a carabiner clip from Poddities, which I just clip to the inexpensive but very sturdy UCSD Revelle College lanyard I use to carry my keys, though note it may not work with all cases and charging stands. If this is too big for your taste Poddities also makes a very low-profile base clip called the Netsuke (buy on Amazon), but note when my lanyard got snagged on a branch it slightly bent the base plate, making it a bit tough to for the Lightning cable to fit properly.
Beeline has launched a sweet-looking case with a built in retractable carabiner clip. UPDATE: My new fav is this simple, inexpensive silicone cell phone sling that you can clip to a lanyard.
A drop-resistant case: lots of blog posts summarize the options (e.g., —, —-, —). If you run the risk of dropping your pack in a stream or you work in environments where it rains, consider a case or sleeve that is waterproof but still allows you to use your phone for data entry.
Other Accessories
Microphone. Essential for recording audio or conducting interviews. If you do playback you probably want better speakers too - the speakers on this list are all waterproof.
Selfie Stick. I know, I know. But it is useful for pictures of plots you can’t reach, branches, and yes pictures of you doing field work. And don’t pretend you didn’t want an excuse to buy one. Get one with bluetooth shutter.
Monopod or Tipod.
Photo Lens Kit Do you take photos in the field? Insects or leaves with a macro lens? Canopy photos with a fisheye lens? There are plenty of reviews of lens kits out there (maybe we can convince Alex to post an update to this 2010 Myrmecos.net post?).
Where to buy accessories: In addition to Amazon, check out Photojojo, which has has a million (mostly iphone) accessories aimed at photographers, and there is a lot here that would be of use to field scientists.
If you would like to recommend an app for the list or suggest an edit, please do so as a ‘new issue’ here or as a pull request.
Boudell, J.A. and B.A. Middleton. 2019. Plot Locator: An app for locating plots in the field. Applications in Plant Sciences 7: e11311. https://doi.org/10.1002/aps3.11311
Teacher, A. G., D. J. Griffiths, D. J. Hodgson, & R. Inger. 2013. Smartphones in ecology and evolution: a guide for the app-rehensive. Ecology and Evolution, 3(16), 5268–5278. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.888
Palumbo, M. J., S. A. Johnson, F. M. Mundim, A. C. Wolf, S. Arunachalam, O. Gonzalez, A. Lau, J. L. Ulrich, A. Washuta, E. M. Bruna. 2012. Harnessing smartphones for ecological education, research, and outreach. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 93(4):390-393 https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9623-93.4.390